A one-bowl wonder that tastes waaay better than boxed brownies. You’ll never reach for another boxed brownie mix again!
My name is Sarah and I am a brownie addict. Brownies are my favorite dessert. Possibly my favorite food. As some of you know, I even strongly considered making every Wednesday post a brownie post.
(It took all my restraint not to).
So creating a new brownie recipe is a big deal for me, because if I don’t come up with something next to perfect, I get frustrated. In fact, I threw out an entire batch of brownies yesterday because they just didn’t measure up. And I’m not even mad about it.
Lucky for you all, I finally came up with a recipe that passed the test. They’re soft, fudgy, moist and they just melt in your mouth. In fact, I think I baked them 2 minutes too long, so when you make them be sure to take them out a few minutes early and you’ll have the most magnificent fudgy brownies.
Why are these brownies better than boxed brownies? Well, many reasons.
1) They don’t come from a box
2) They take 10 minutes or less to go from nothing to a pan full of brownie batter in the oven
3) They are a one bowl wonder, meaning you only need one bowl for the entire recipe
4) They taste as good if not better than any boxed brownie mix out there
Is anyone else as crazy about brownies as I am? Or if brownies aren’t quite your thing (gasp), what dessert is your I-must-have-it-and-it’s-my-favorite-beyond-favorite?
I asked Alex that question and he said, “skittles.”
I just shook my head at him.
He then changed his answer to brownies.
Better Than Boxed Brownies
I used dutch cocoa for a deeper color, and bigger chocolate chips in the batter for an added richness.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 9 large brownies 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup dutch process cocoa powder
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 eggs plus 1 yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate baking chips
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter. Remove from microwave, stir in sugar, and melt both for 30 seconds. Stir again and melt for 60 seconds more. You want the sugar and butter to bubble up slightly, but not burn. This amount of time should do the trick.
- Remove mixture from microwave and stir in bittersweet chocolate. This should melt the chocolate completely. If it doesn’t, put it in the microwave for another 15 seconds. Whisk in all other ingredients except chocolate chips. Gently fold in bittersweet chocolate baking chips.
- Pour batter into a parchment lined 8″x8″ pan. Sprinkle with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan and cutting into 9 large squares.
67 comments
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious
I just want to dive into these, they look amazing!!
Traci | Vanilla And Bean
It’s a good thing Alex changed his answer… if he knows what’s good for him! Sarah, I don’t think it can get any more perfect than brownies and you nail them every time! OMG – you even include bittersweet chocolate chips here, along side the dutch cocoa. OMG. I have a feeling I’ll be making brownies this weekend….. jeeze! Thank you for another crave worthy, chocolatey recipe, Sarah! Have a fabulous weekend!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
You’ve said it, Traci. He is a weirdo and is missing out. And let me know what you think! Happy weekend, Traci.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
Oh man, I’m a total brownie addict, too! These look WAY better than the boxed stuff, Sarah! Love how thick and fudgy these are. Yum!
Jen @ Baked by an Introvert
Can I just have them all?! I love a good brownie and these look so amazing. Perfect!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
Skillets? Come on. That’s not a dessert. Glad he changed his answer to brownies. These look amazing!
Liz @ Floating Kitchen
Ha ha – typo. Skittles, not skillets! Although, neither are real desserts…
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Teehee. So true though, right? Skittles. Pfff.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
These are off the charts delicious looking! I’m loving all your brownie recipes (brownies are my ultimate guilty pleasure food 🙂
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Aren’t they the best? Like, nothing can top them.
Abby @ The Frosted Vegan
I am also, a brownie addict. I think we should unite and eat all the kinds of brownies. Also, Brownie Wednesday sounds like a PERFECT idea! Luckily, my fiance loves chocolate as much as I do, so he helps me eat all the desserts that involve chocolate : )
Sarah | Broma Bakery
I would love that. And lucky that your guy likes chocolate! I’m alone in the sweets-loving department in our house. It’s dangerous…
Tori@Gringalicious.com
I have never understood why anyone buys brownie mix when they are so easy and so much better at home. This definitely looks like a recipe I need to add to my collection! Pinning!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Seriously! Thanks, Tori 🙂
Alex
My favorite dessert of all time – like, I need them multiple times a week in order to survive – is the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Warm, gooey, chocolate-y, nutty. Mmm. Although, a warm brownie with a scoop of ice cream is a close second!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
My mom would agree with you. Chocolate chip cookies are her weakness! They’re a close second for me, too 🙂
Kathleen @ yummycrumble
Yes ma’am! I can down a big bowl of brownies any day. I’m a weirdo and sometimes pour milk into the bowl and make brownie soup. But that’s only on certain days when I’m having female issues. I’m trying these this weekend 🙂
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Milk?! I’ve never heard of that, haha. Let me know what you think of them & happy baking!
DavetteB
I do the brownie with cream in the bowl – even better than milk 😉
Amy | Club Narwhal
Let the slow clap begin! These brownies look like my every dream come true–so much chocolate, and then chocolate chips!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
I get a slow clap?! That’s pretty epic. Teehee
Melissa @ Bits of Umami
I need these in my life right now! YUMMY!
★★★★★
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom
Brownies are my husband’s favorite dessert. I would totally be down if you made every Wednesday post a brownie post . . esp if they looked like this!! Wow!!!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Thanks, Alice! Oooh, now I want to know what your hubby’s favorite brownie is! I’m always interested to hear the Ultimate Brownies of other brownie lovers
Lynn | The Road to Honey
Skittles? Is that considered desert? Glad Alex changed his answer. My preference is for a good tropical cake (dreaming of the days spent in Hawaii) but I’m not going to say no to some brownies. These look decadent.
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Ooooh I could totally go for a pineapple upside down cake now!
Matea
These brownies look so chocolatey and delicious! It’s totally acceptable to eat the whole batch yourself–if you eat it in two, er, one day, right?? 🙂
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Oh TOTALLY 🙂
nancy k
These brownies look amazing. I linked to your site from the Saturday post of Jessica @ How Sweet It Is. I have been browsing oyur recipe index…yum! I will now be a regular visator to your site for sure. I love that youhave roots in Boston…I live a few miles outside in a western suburb.We are experiencing out firat storm of the season today.
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Thank you for stopping by, Nancy! So glad to have you here. I’m actually from right outside of Boston, as well- Belmont. Good luck with the storm today, and excited to see you around the site! Don’t be a stranger 🙂
nancy k
I am in Newton…just a few towns over. Love Il Casale in Belmont Center. I certainly will be a regular visitor to your site and plan on making one of your cookie recipes as a treat for my snow removal guys…blizzard coming Monday night through Wednesday!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Il Casale is fantastic! And I’ve heard about the blizzard; good luck and stay warm!! Let me know what the guys think of the cookies 🙂
emily
Hi Sarah, I went to umich, too (graduated in ’13), and just wanted to tell you that I’ve been following your food blog for a few years now and I’m so excited to have started seeing it pop up on a number of big-name blogs recently (Cupcakes & Cashmere! How Sweet Eats!). Congrats to you!!! Go blue
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for the comment and the praises. We graduated the same year! Glad to have you around, don’t be a stranger, and go blue!
sue|theviewfromgreatisland
we’re working with the same deep chocolatey color palette today — I need these in my life this week!
★★★★★
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Dark chocolate is the only chocolate.
dr deb
Sarah, these look amazing! Can’t wait to try them. I wonder if I can get away with baking them in the toaster oven like those fat chocolate chip cookies…can’t wait ’til the kitchen is done and I have an oven again!
ATasteOfMadness
These brownies look so good! I have been meaning to make brownies for days now!
Jess @ whatjessicabakednext
These brownies look INSANE! Love that gooey, rich and decadent chocolate flavour. Totally making these really soon! Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes)
I am a self professed brownie addict as well, and these look perfecto! Pinned.
Adrianna
BROWNIES FOREVER!!! you’re my soulmate.
Ramona @ The Merchant Baker
Linked over from How Sweet It Is this morning and had to try these brownies today. I, too, am a brownie lover and have tried many, many recipes…with cocoa, with melted chocolate, with both, with butter, with oil, different flours, different sugars, more eggs, less eggs, played with different proportions and different processes… I don’t know if the average person appreciates how complex a brownie recipe can be when you’re trying to get a certain flavor and texture. I’m actually scheduled to bake some brownies this week, so this was an unscheduled addition to my weekend. I just couldn’t resist making them especially with one bowl and the microwave? I had to come back and tell you how much we loved them! Really easy, really delicious, really impressive!
jann j
My mom and I used to bake chocolate cakes late in the evening just to devour with milk over in a bowl.. Fresh out of the oven decadence, cold milk, ooh, so yummy! These brownies, oooohhhhh, yeah.. This next weekend! Face plant!!
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl
All that fudgy goodness. My mouth is watering!! If I make them, do I have to share? 😉
★★★★★
Ami@NaiveCookCooks
omg brownies I love so much that basically Give me brownies and cold milk and I can make a meal out of it! These look so delicious!
Thalia @ butter and brioche
Brownies are possibly one of my favourite desserts too.. especially brownies topped with ice cream! These look awesome Sarah – and they definitely rival any boxed version!
perla
I want to make these so badly but I only have regular cocoa powder. Would I be able to susbstitute..? 🙁
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Yes, you can definitely substitute it! Happy baking!
Debbie
Sarah, you are a baking genius. I made these when my husband declared that he wanted a homemade dessert, and wanted it now. I had to make one tweak; I didn’t have Dutch processed cocoa, so used natural and added a scant teaspoon of baking soda. The brownies were still fabulous. Also, in my oven, 30 minutes baking time was too long. I think I pulled them out after 23 minutes,, and could have gotten away with pulling them out even a minute or two earlier. (This no doubt speaks only to my oven, not the recipe.) We sent our leftovers into my husband’s office the day after I baked these, and everyone loved them!!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Aww, thank you so much, Debbie! Your two comments made me smile! Glad you pulled them out of the oven early– there’s nothing worse than an overcooked brownie! Thank you so much for commenting, and don’t be a stranger! Happy baking
Melissa
Hi,
First of all these brownies look AMAZING!
And i want to bake them myself but i have a 13 x 9″ pan. In this case should i duplicate the récipe to do them?
★★★★★
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Hi Melissa! Yes, doubling the recipe is exactly what to do with a 9×13 pan. Happy baking, and let me know how they turn out!
Michael Chang
started cooking recently and needed a good brownie recipe to treat the kids I teach. These looked amazing! Great to see your blog is doing so well Sarah
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Hi Michael! Thanks so much for stopping by. It’s been going really well, and I’ve been enjoying it a lot 🙂 Hope you’re well, too, and let me know what the kiddos think of them!
Ann
I made these last night and had one this morning, they’re delicious! They’re insanely rich so one tiny piece was enough, which is rare for me to say. I usually want a massive brownie and then another, but a small one was perfectly satisfying. I’ll be making these again for sure!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Hi Ann! I’m so so glad you enjoyed these. They’re one o my favorites! Fudgy is the only way to go with brownies. Thanks for commenting and happy baking!
DavetteB
These will be my one-pot brownies (though I will need a better name than that or someone could get the wrong idea) since I do not own a microwave and would have to start them stove top. (my choice, not judging)
Love Love Love fudgy brownies – cake brownies should just be called chocolate cake.
I now have too many ‘to-dos’ from your blog!
★★★★
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Haha! I love it! Thank you so much for commenting and please let me know what you think!
Heather
I made these and unfortunately they didn’t work. (at all.) The batter never cooked. It just stayed in a “batter” form the entire baking time. I think this has to do with microwaving the ingredients before hand. Perhaps my mixture was cooked too much in the microwave and when placed in the oven it caused some disaster? Super bummed.
★
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Hi Heather! I’m very sorry to hear that. I’ve had friends and family make quite a few batches of this recipe so far, so I’m wondering what could’ve gone wrong with yours. Are you sure you added all the ingredients? That would be my first guess. Microwaving the ingredients shouldn’t cause it to not bake, unless you microwaved the entire batter. Is there anything else you may have done differently?
Jessica
SOOOOO good. I’ve been looking for a good recipe I can use to make gluten free brownies- and I finally found it with these. I just subbed the flour for an all-purpose gluten free flower blend, and it worked great. I was even able to cut down on the sugar a little and they were so rich and fudgy and amazing. YUM!!!
★★★★★
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Oh I’m so glad they worked out gluten free, Jessica! Maybe I’ll make a GF brownie this fall 🙂
Cheri
These are amazing!! Our new favorite, go-to, easy brownie. Thanks so much!!
Sarah | Broma Bakery
Oh I’m SO glad to hear that, Cheri! Thank you!